How the 12-foot Home Depot skeleton became a perennial hit

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Seeing how happy it makes my daughter who was in tears hours earlier [...] makes driving around the block 6 times to move for all the cars worth it.\"The skeleton the note referred to, of course, is the $299 \"12 ft Giant-Sized Skeleton with LifeEyes™️ LCD Eyes,\" a bestselling and highly sought-after decoration from Home Depot's seasonal department. The prop holds a special place in Zahm's own heart. She goes all-out for Halloween and got her first of two skeletons in September after pining over it for years — a conquest that involved waking up early before work and waiting outside her local Home Depot the day it set out Halloween decorations for the season, she told Mashable in an email. (She now refers to it as \"John Skellerman.\") But the letter came as a surprise. \"We got misty-eyed,\" Zahm said. \"We never thought someone would love him as much as we do.\"Zahm's experience encapsulates a collective and persistent infatuation with the Home Depot skeleton, which originally debuted to rabid fanfare in the fall of 2020. It was the gaunt face that launched a thousand memes and a driving force behind the retailer's \"most successful Halloween\" to date that year, Home Depot's Chief Operating Officer Ted Decker said in an interview with CNBC, despite a significant dip in holiday spending and participation at the time.\n \n Tweet may have been deleted\n \n\nThe skeleton might have easily been a pandemic fluke — nothing more than a silly distraction or a temporary salve to societal upheaval. As anyone who bought a Peloton at the peak of its popularity can tell you, people's minds were operating on a different plane in 2020. Yet even years later, as Zahm could attest, securing a Home Depot skeleton when it gets a rare \"Limit 1 per order\" drop in 2022 requires luck, timing, and maybe knowing a guy who knows a guy. This year's June and July online restocks both saw the skeleton sell out rapidly, with the former contributing to the highest quarterly earnings in Home Depot history. And aside from a few random reappearances, it's been MIA ever since — scroll through the comments section on its product page for a taste of many wannabe buyers' woes.Scammers and resellers have gotten in on the action, too, targeting the skeleton as if it were a next-generation gaming console or a limited-edition sneaker. Listings on resale platforms like Facebook Marketplace and eBay ask hundreds of dollars over retail price.\n I set like 10 alarms because I was like, 'What if he sells out?'\n \nConsumer response to the skeleton has been so immense that Home Depot decided to add more giant Halloween decorations to its lineup, according to Senior Merchant of Decorative Holiday Lance Allen, who affectionately calls the prop \"Skelly.\" (For the record, Allen said the skeleton uses whatever pronouns buyers deem fit. A gender-fluid icon.) First was the 2021 release of a 12-foot Inferno Pumpkin Skeleton, a \"spicy,\" corpsey cousin for the classic model priced at $379. This year's additions included a 15-foot Towering Phantom, a 12-foot Hovering Witch, and a 9.5-foot Immortal Werewolf, which went for $299 to $399 apiece.Like any good viral sensation, the original Home Depot skeleton also spawned copycats at other stores. Lowe's, Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, and JOANN Fabrics have all sought to ride the Big Skeleton wave in 2022. A suspiciously decent knockoff on Amazon was sold out at the time of publication, having been listed between $325.95 to $1,999.99. (To quote one customer's five-star review: \"He is big!!!!\")In a way, the Home Depot skeleton was destined to be a hit. Its 60 pounds of beige high-density polyethylene stand at an imposing 12 feet — technically 11.7, if you go by the specifications on its online listing. Its two blue-green animated LifeEyes call to mind a certain Miley Cyrus meme while slow-blinking into space, as if it were trying to bond with onlookers. It's weatherproof. It's semi-posable. It takes two human adults approximately one hour to assemble. It could hypothetically go through airport security. It's massive. Its potency as a meme is undeniable.\n \n\n\n window.videoEmbeds = window.videoEmbeds || [];\n window.videoEmbeds.push({\n elemId: 'video-container-ro9S4uAG9rc',\n data: {\"slug\":\"ro9S4uAG9rc\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/watch?v=ro9S4uAG9rc\",\"start_time\":\"\"},\n videoPlayerType: 'in-content'\n });\n\n\n\"I think 'too absurd to fail' is a great way to put it,\" said Anthony DiMieri, a New York City-based writer, director, and producer. Self-described as \"way too online,\" he turned horny tweets about the Home Depot skeleton into \"My New Boyfriend,\" a 2021 short film satirizing the modern dating scene that stars our tall king as a love interest. (It would have come out sooner, but all the Home Depot skeletons DiMieri could find on eBay in 2020 were marked up four times retail price.) The mere phrase \"12-foot skeleton from Home Depot\" is comedy gold in its specificity and strangeness, he explained.Scarcity as a self-fulfilling prophecy has also contributed to the skeleton's runaway success, compounded by the fact that its price hasn't increased in its three years on the market — even after Home Depot started including a plug-in power adapter in 2021. Concerns that the skeleton would get more expensive this year because of record-high inflation motivated Lindsey Wilcox, of Warner Robins, Georgia, to finally coordinate a purchase with her boyfriend and best friend; they wound up financing it with a Klarna payment plan. \"I was really nervous about it,\" Wilcox told Mashable. \"I set like 10 alarms because I was like, 'What if he sells out?'\" The upper half of her skeleton has a permanent home as part of the TV stand, now the focal point of her apartment.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n View this post on Instagram\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\nBut something about the skeleton's staying power continues to confound. The number of viral products that have faded into obscurity as soon as the next big thing trends is incalculable — something new should have usurped its throne by now. (The jacked werewolf tried its best; Home Depot had it on clearance at the time of publication.) Yet the skeleton has returned with gusto in the summers and falls since its inception, like a marigold bloom, indoctrinating new generations of skele-sciples. It's almost as if this supersized symbol of death has taken on a life of its own.Fear factorMost of my reporting on this story was driven by a journalistic need for answers to the whys and hows of this viral trend, but I'd be remiss if I didn't disclose a deeply personal quest to confront a lifelong phobia.Growing up, I remember ordering my three younger sisters to say \"SK\" in place of \"skeleton\" because the word alone scared me. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and FernGully: The Last Rainforest were all banned from family movie nights because of skeleton cameos. I can't touch anything that has a skeleton on it, whether it's a T-shirt or the cover of an anatomy book. I have spent the past three decades trying to ignore the fact that there is one under my own skin right now — you don't need to remind me. (Please do not remind me.) In mid-September 2022, after I'd had several lovely conversations with 12-foot skeleton owners from around the country, a tweet alerted me to the fact that my local Home Depot in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood had one on display. I felt a moral obligation to see this thing after everything I'd heard and read. (My colleagues at Mashable have covered restocks, dupes, and the Inferno Pumpkin launch.) At the very least, I could use the trip as an excuse to grab a hot dog after work.After I stepped off the parking garage's industrial elevator and rounded a pallet of blue windshield washer fluid, there it was — in the center of the floor, smack dab between the escalators leading to and from the appliance and paint departments, with a homemade sign attached to its wrist that said, \"PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH SKELETON.\"I wish I could call our encounter a personal reckoning, a watershed moment of clarity, or a healing round of exposure therapy. Faint feelings of familiarity and \"wow, so this is the guy!\" were percolating somewhere. But mostly I was just freaked out. I did not feel well in its presence, much less a desire to make physical contact. It was simply too big, too spooky, too skeleton-y.Getting close enough for a decent photo I could send to the family group chat was physically distressing — \"is that the 12 foot sk,\" one sister texted back — but it did draw my eye to the small price tag next to the sign. In the interest of due diligence, I approached a nearby apron-clad associate to ask whether it was in stock.\"No,\" he answered sheepishly. How long had it been sold out? \"About three weeks now.\"\n \n \n\n\n \n \n Two pretty b̶e̶s̶t̶ f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ enemies. \n Credit: Haley Henschel \/ Mashable\n \n \nA star is bornEvery legend needs an origin story, and one side of the skeleton's goes largely untold. Despite being widely known as the Home Depot skeleton, it was actually developed in tandem with a tiny seasonal product design and consultancy business called Seasonal Visions International, which operates out of Berkeley and San Diego, Calif. A sister company called SVI Global Ltd. manufactures its products in China and sells them to retailers around the world. Not that anyone would glean that from a Google search. SVI doesn't maintain any socials aside from a dormant Facebook page, and the closest it has to a website is a wiki within the Spirit Halloween Fandom community. The only traces of it on the Home Depot website are found within the Questions & Answers section of its products' listings, where \"SVI Product Expert\" responds to customer concerns.This secrecy is intentional, according to a person deeply familiar with SVI who spoke to Mashable under the condition of anonymity: The company doesn't want to steal the spotlight from its retail partners. Other SVI-made decorations include Home Depot's new phantom, floating witch, and werewolf, as well as Best Buy's 8-foot Towering Skeleton with \"Digieyes\" (the non-trademarked version of LifeEyes). For its part, Home Depot told Mashable that SVI \"has been a fantastic partner — they're true innovators in holiday products and décor.\" As the store's Senior Merchant of Decorative Holiday, Allen is often touted as the skeleton's creator, having been inspired by a giant torso that appeared at trade shows and haunted houses in 2019. The prop was the result of trying to \"bring customers innovation and quality that has never been available in a retail setting\" while \"[pushing] the limits with our engineer and manufacturing capabilities,\" Allen told Mashable in a statement.\n \n \n\n\n \n \n Home Depot skeletons await their new homes in an unspecified factory.\n Credit: Courtesy of The Home Depot\n \n \nJazzing up an otherwise static decoration with moving, dilating LCD eyes was one way to accomplish that. But why 12 feet, specifically? \"The height of a [10-foot] basketball hoop seemed impressive, but we knew our team could do better,\" said Allen. \"We decided on 12 feet because the image of two grown men standing on top of each other's heads seemed like it would be a showstopper!\"As cool as the skeleton seemed, the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020 had SVI worried about a Halloween season for the first time in its 19-year history, our source said. Would anyone be in the mood to celebrate? You don't have to be an economist to recognize the fact that extravagant decorations of the morbid and macabre were a hard sell at the time, especially in an economy upended by supply chain crises and a sharp decline in consumer spending. No one was hoarding an emergency fund for a $300 giant skeleton.But people were, in fact, in the mood. SVI had never experienced such an enormous public response to one of its products before, which our source partially credited to word of mouth and a mention in the popular true crime podcast My Favorite Murder. Some people within the company kept scrapbooks.Home Depot itself had a hunch the skeleton would be popular with its customers after it took off online that summer, said Allen, but no one there fully understood the magnitude of its stardom until it went on display in stores in August, when it \"exploded overnight.\" Allen didn't explicitly confirm whether the skeleton was originally intended to be a one-time deal for 2020, but did note that Home Depot \"wanted to ensure we continued to bring that excitement to our customers\" after many missed out on its introduction. (The SVI source said its scarcity in 2020 and 2021 was the direct result of supply chain snags, which simmered down in time for the first 2022 restock.)The skeleton opened many doors for SVI, which swiftly became a name among the Halloween decorating community. But none of its other products have had a bony grip on consumers quite like the original 12-footer. \n \n \n \n \n Via Giphy\n\nSkelly die-hardsIf there's an official fan club for the Home Depot skeleton, it lives on Facebook. Groups dedicated to the decoration have ballooned and multiplied over the past two years, in many cases amassing tens of thousands of members each. Conservative estimates for across-the-board totals would be well over the 100,000 mark.These Facebook groups have become epicenters for all factions of the fandom, from hardcore Halloween people who decorate year-round to casuals who are just trying to have the spookiest yard on their block. They're gathering spaces where someone can revel in the triumph of finally buying a skeleton after a months- or yearslong hunt. They're virtual highlight reels for showing off displays, runways for outfit inspiration, and creative outlets for sharing modifications. (Metallic spray paints, skull-to-phalange glitter, and rustic wood stains were huge for SS22.) They're sounding boards for punny name ideas. They're fountains of wisdom on how to secure it properly, prevent it from getting stolen, or persuade a spouse to buy another. They're sources of empathy when hardships and natural disasters force a premature disassembly. They're war rooms for swapping tips on how to win over neighbors and homeowners associations. The Home Depot skeleton has found itself in an infinite number of locations, outfits, and poses as a result of these Facebook groups, morphing into some sort of cross between Flat Stanley and a Midwestern porch goose. One does not simply own this thing; it joins your family. It gives you a story to tell at parties. To know the Home Depot skeleton is to love it — or at least feel a compulsion to talk about it.\"We are aware of the many fun groups and communities online and are so excited that The Home Depot fans have come together to celebrate our original giant, Skelly,\" said Allen. \"We hope their enthusiasm will continue to extend to Skelly's friends and fellow giants.\"Jennifer Penelope Corcoran, of Nashville, Tenn., is the mastermind behind 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club, a hub for \"owners, soon-to-be owners, and admirers of the 12-foot skeleton to share pics, tips, and ideas.\" (Yes, they've made T-shirts.) She created the group on Sept. 5, 2020, having just bought a skeleton during a restock and seen people post about it in other holiday decorating forums. But she wasn't sure whether it would gain any traction.Cut to the group's current membership count of over 50,000 people, the largest in the genre, which grows daily.\"It's completely happened by accident,\" said Corcoran, whose display now includes two Home Depot skeletons nicknamed Ray and Frankie Blue Eyes, an Inferno Pumpkin variant, the 12-foot witch, the 15-foot phantom, the 9.5-foot werewolf, a giant snake, various skeletal animals, some Haunted Mansion-inspired cutouts, and a 20-foot inflatable cat from Amazon she calls Princess Meow Meow. (As far as a theme goes, \"it's really more lack of willpower than anything else,\" Corcoran joked.)\n \n \n\n\n \n \n Jennifer Corcoran had a neighbor make custom “Dumb and Dumber” tuxedos for her two Home Depot skeletons in 2021. \n Credit: Courtesy of Jennifer Corcoran\n \n \nCorcoran told Mashable she found Home Depot's Allen on Facebook to invite him to the group shortly after its inception, only to discover he was already a member. A 2021 media preview was the start of her team's close working relationship with the retailer, which keeps close tabs on the community and flags upcoming restocks — intel it relays to members as \"Code Orange\" alerts as soon as drops go live.\"We'll email them about stuff all the time and they get back to us right away,\" said Corcoran of Home Depot, which invited her and Randy Motes, a co-admin from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, back for its in-person Halloween and holiday showcase in 2022. \"They enjoy it, they enjoy seeing everybody's displays and the things people are doing with it…They're definitely fun to work with.\"SVI is also embedded within 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club, though it tries to maintain a low profile. Corcoran described their relationship as a symbiotic one: Her team can put group members in touch with SVI for troubleshooting and replacement parts; in turn, SVI gets to see how customers are interacting with their products. Sometimes they'll send YouTube videos with setup tips and tricks, she added. \"They want customers to be happy, too.\"Serving as middlemen between these companies and consumers is just one facet of running 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club for Corcoran and her dedicated squad of 19 other admins and moderators; the rest involves a thoughtful balance of customer service, informal PR, and community-building. Post approval stays on to kill leaks, deter spam, and make sure members resell extras at cost. Threads are watched closely to ensure conversations stay civil and on-topic. Co-admin Motes tries to personally refresh the group's cover photo on a daily basis to showcase as many group members' skeletons as possible — though \"I know I miss hundreds,\" he told Mashable. Each member of the team spends an average of 10 to 40 hours a week tending to the group, said Corcoran.All this over a seasonal prop from a home improvement store? It's easy to see the appeal of Facebook groups dedicated to shared, hyper-specific interests at a time when online connections were lifelines. But most members of 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club would probably tell you it's evolved into something more. The group parlayed its sense of community into a nationwide fundraising campaign during the 2021 Halloween season, raising over $150,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Members rallied behind a family in Austin, Texas, whose Home Depot skeleton was stolen in broad daylight, offering to chip in for a replacement and even donate their own skeletons before Home Depot stepped in with a free spare. A crew of local members was en route to set it up when I last spoke with Corcoran.\n \n\nFor her and countless others, the skeleton has also translated to meaningful real-life connections. Corcoran recalled a day she heard a group member in search of Home Depot's new 8-foot pumpkin stack was 40 minutes away from her local store, so she booked it over and held it on her car for him until he arrived.\"It ended up being like eight of us that all ended up showing up down there,\" she said. \"You get to meet people in your community you didn't even know about.\" Maybe the real Home Depot skeleton is the friends we make along the way.Perhaps close-knit, well-connected communities like these are why Maddi had so much trouble reselling a skeleton. An East Coast resident who spends a lot of time on social media for work, she purchased one at her local Home Depot this summer after seeing a promo for the retailer's July restock on Twitter, hoping its virality would double her money in a fast sale. (Mashable is not including her last name to protect her identity.) Alas, no dice: Maddi's listings on Mercari, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace have been met with haggling and hostility from strangers, so the skeleton has been sitting unopened in her parents' shed ever since.\"People are surprisingly rude,\" she said. \"They're offering me less than I originally paid for it. Or they just say, 'Ha ha ha, you're never gonna sell this thing.' Or like, 'I can go to Home Depot, buy one for $300, and bring it home. I don't need yours.' And I'm like, well, it's sold out at Home Depot, so I don't know what you expect to do with that.\"\n \n \n \n \n Via Giphy\n\nLove thy neighbor, hate their skeletonThe journey of Home Depot skeleton ownership is not necessarily one for the faint of heart, despite its broad appeal. Enough complaints from HOAs or neighbors can be grounds for disassembly, which is every Home Depot skeleton owners' worst nightmare after vandalism or theft. (I personally would not love seeing a 12-foot skeleton outside my window every day, for what it's worth.) But sometimes a little backlash can work in an owner's favor. \n If I get that reaction and I get that smile, then I did my day.\n \nBridgett Nicolace, of Columbia, South Carolina, told Mashable she often gets people knocking on her door asking to take pictures with her skeleton Billy Bob Bones. \"Triple B\" stays on her front lawn year-round and has a rotating closet of costumes for different seasons and holidays; Nicolace paid \"five or six hundred dollars\" to have him shipped from Pennsylvania last fall and makes all of his outfits herself. (She can name his T-shirt size on Amazon — 3XL — off the top of her head.) Nicolace was surprised when she opened her mailbox one day in March to find an anonymous note demanding that her \"trashy\" skeleton be taken down, threatening court action \"or whatever needs to be done to have it removed\" — something she found funny as a former trial attorney. She decided to post a video about it on TikTok, where it's been viewed over 1.9 million times. One of several follow-up videos featured Triple B posing with a meta sign that read, \"My mom is a lawyer.\"\"When I did that video on TikTok and it blew up unexpectedly, a lot of people offered to buy additional items for Triple B,\" Nicolace said. She decided against making a public Amazon Wish List, citing a discomfort with asking strangers for \"handouts,\" but would love to someday get another Home Depot skeleton — maybe when Triple B's wardrobe gets too full.\n \n\n\nRichard Miley, of Watkinsville, Georgia, who purchased his first Home Depot skeleton in April, bedecked \"Bone Marley\" in a festive oversized Hawaiian shirt and lights for a house party this past summer. As night fell that evening, he heard a banging coming from the house next door: His neighbor had nailed a 10- to 11-foot cross to a shed facing the skeleton. That kicked off \"a little war,\" he said.Miley has since amassed an army of three classic Home Depot skeletons, one Inferno Pumpkin skeleton, a 12-foot mummy from Lowe's, a 7.6-foot Baphomet animatronic from Spirit Halloween, two giant skulls, and seven five-foot skeletons, which he expands regularly and plans on displaying year-round. He recently installed a 30-foot flagpole, which a 12-foot skeleton named Pamela Skel-Lee \"dances\" around as her standard-sized counterparts gawk from folding chairs, jaws agape. He's hoping to buy at least three or four more classic 12-foot skeletons, which will get placed around his backyard pool and wrapped with string lights. \"I got at least two grand into it right now. I'm not done yet,\" said Miley, citing lack of HOA oversight and a best friend who's an attorney. \"I think it's well worth it.\"For Miley, this is more than just a petty opportunity to stick it to a hater. (To his credit, their back-and-forth has helped his family's 2022 St. Jude fundraiser eclipse its $4,500 goal.) It's also more than just great advertising for Miley's restaurant; everyone in town knows him as the guy with the cool yard that pissed off his neighbors. It's both a personal creative release and a perpetual source of delight for his friends and family — specifically his wife Ashley, a nurse practitioner who works in a COVID intensive care unit. \"If I get that reaction and I get that smile, then I did my day,\" Miley said.\n \n \n \n \n Via Giphy\n\nUntil death do us part?Three years of selling out and amassing a passionate fanbase have posed an important question: Will the Home Depot skeleton bubble ever burst?The issue was recently raised within 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club, prompting discourse among members over whether the prop is still cool or too commonplace. Co-admin Motes brushed off concerns, likening the skeleton to a Christmas tree: \"It's how you decorate it, how you display it,\" he told Mashable, adding that he still spots very few skeletons \"out in the wild\" in his own neighborhood. Seeing people around the country post pictures of it in a Facebook group dedicated to that specific purpose creates a false sense of oversaturation, he explained. \"I feel they should just keep coming every year.\"\n \n \n\n\n \n \n Randy Motes’ 2022 display features a 12-foot, six-inch plywood skeleton (left), which he made himself in 2020 after the Home Depot version sold out. SVI sent him a set of LifeEyes for it, he said.\n Credit: Mashable Composite \/ Courtesy of Randy Motes\n \n \nIndeed, all of the Home Depot skeleton owners we spoke with are continuing to find new ways to one-up themselves. Miley said he sources decorating ideas from 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club on a regular basis, spending a couple hundred dollars each time \"just to make it happen because I want the picture.\" Nicolace is thinking about dressing Triple B in a capotain and doublet for Thanksgiving. Wilcox will buy a black Santa hat for her skeleton to wear at Christmas. And for her part, letter recipient Jessi Zahm is helping John Skellerman build a rapport with his 3-year-old secret admirer through gift exchanges and weekly personalized notes. A giant replica of her favorite Dairy Queen treat — a Stars & Stripes Starkiss Bar — is currently affixed to his left hand. For Erin Bain, of Indianapolis, Indiana, the Home Depot skeleton's presence will remain long after hers gets disassembled for the season: She got a tattoo of it on her calf this fall. \"I might have the first one — it may not be the last,\" she said. Coincidentally, Bain's artist Garrett Hudson, of Fountain Square Tattoo, also happens to own a Home Depot skeleton.\n \n \n\n\n \n \n Bain road-tripped to Ohio to buy her Home Depot skeleton, which is now immortalized on her calf.\n Credit: Courtesy of Erin Bain \/ Tattoo by Garrett Hudson of Fountain Square Tattoo\n \n \nEven if the hype (or ink) fades, it's easy to see the Home Depot skeleton living on as a seasonal meme, morphing into a harbinger of spooky season — like Caitlin \"Christian Girl Autumn\" Covington, minus the great hair. Extremely online filmmaker DiMieri said he's seen enough tweets about the skeleton's merits as a love interest in 2022 that he's set on making a sequel to \"My New Boyfriend\" with a proposal and wedding scenes, pending enough funding. (Your move, Home Depot.) It's hard not to root for the skeleton's continued success or existence in the zeitgeist, even as someone who isn't particularly enamored with the osteologic. It's hard to be repulsed by something born out of private desires to create moments of levity. It's hard to fault anyone for squeezing so much communal joy out of a $300 Halloween decoration from a hardware corporation in a post-lockdown world that can be so antagonistic and isolating. There are far worse causes to rally around.I still won't go within six feet of the Home Depot skeleton if I can help it, to be crystal clear. But the next time we cross paths, I might not be as terrified, knowing I'm in on what feels like a glorious inside joke.","datePublished":"2022-10-31T17:56:26+00:00","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","url":"https:\/\/mashable.com\/","name":"Mashable","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/mashable.com\/images\/mashable-logomark.png","width":2400,"height":2400},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mashable\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/mashable","https:\/\/flipboard.com\/@Mashable","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/mashable\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mashable"],"description":"Mashable is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company.\n Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech,\n digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.","publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/mashable.com\/about\/editorial-standards"},"author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Haley 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</button> <div x-show="drawerOpen" class="text-base"> <a href="https://mashable.com/shows" class="block mt-4" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text">Mashable Shows</a> <a href="https://mashable.com/videos" class="block mt-4 font-bold" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text">All Videos</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <header class="max-w-8xl text-center px-4 mt-8 text-primary-400 font-sans mx-auto"> <div class="flex flex-wrap subtitle-2 justify-center"> <div class="max-w-3xl"> <section style=""> <div class="text-gray-700 subtitle-2 text-uppercase" style=""> <a href="https://mashable.com" style="" aria-label="Navigate to the Home page">Home</a> <span class="ml-1">></span> <a class="ml-1 " href="/life" style="" aria-label="Navigate to the Life category">Life</a> <span class="ml-1">></span> <a class="ml-1 " href="/category/digital-culture" style="" aria-label="Navigate to the Digital Culture category">Digital Culture</a> </div> </section> </div> </div> <h1 class="mt-4 header-100 leading-tight max-w-5xl mx-auto">Live, laugh, LifeEyes™️: How the 12-foot Home Depot skeleton became a perennial hit</h1> <div class="mt-2 leading-tight md:leading-normal text-xl max-w-4xl mx-auto">Years after its pandemic debut, this supersized symbol of death has taken on a life of its own.</div> <div class="w-full subtitle-2 mt-8 text-left md:flex md:flex-wrap md:items-baseline md:space-x-8 justify-center"> <div> By <a href="/author/haleyhenschel" class="underline-link">Haley Henschel</a>  on <time datetime="Mon, 31 Oct 2022 17:56:26 +0000">October 31, 2022</time> </div> <div class="flex flex-initial content-start mt-4 text-base md:mt-0"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" data-ga-element="social-share-link" data-ga-action="social_share_link" data-ga-position="1" data-ga-label="facebook" data-ga-click aria-label="Facebook Share" class="pr-3 hover:text-primary-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener" 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If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. </div> </div> </header> <main class="px-4 mx-auto w-full 2xl:px-0 full-width" data-ga-module="content_body"> <div class="mx-auto max-w-8xl"> <div class="max-w-8xl px-0 mt-8 text-primary-400 font-sans mx-auto mt-10"> <img class="w-full border border-gray-100" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1667238498.jpg" alt="a closeup of an animated home depot skeleton's lifeeyes" width="1248" height="702" srcset="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/hero-image.fill.size_400x225.v1667238498.jpg 400w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/hero-image.fill.size_800x450.v1667238498.jpg 800w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1667238498.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" > <div class="mt-2 leading-none text-left"> <span class="font-sans text-gray-600 subtitle-2">Credit: Zain Awais / Mashable</span> </div> </div> <div class="max-w-8xl px-4 mx-auto"> <hr class="hidden"> </div> </div> <div class="flex relative flex-row items-center py-1 px-4 mx-auto mt-10 space-x-2 max-w-3xl text-left border-l-8 md:justify-center bg-warmgray-100 border-secondary-100 hover:bg-20" role="alert"> <div class="shrink-0"> <svg class="w-4 h-4 align-middle fill-current"> <use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-clock-icon"></use> </svg> </div> <span class="py-2 font-sans text-sm"> Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Learn more about <a href="https://mashable.com/about/deals-coverage-explained" class="underline" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text">how we select deals</a>. </span> </div> <article id="article" data-autopogo class="mt-8 font-serif editor-content"> <p>"This is a little strange, I am sure," began the letter Jessi Zahm, of Newberg, Oregon, found on her doorstep this September, "but we live up the street from you and we drive by your house daily."</p><p>Zahm had a secret admirer — or rather, one of her Halloween decorations did.</p><p>"My daughter who is 3 started a new daycare which has been a struggle," the letter continued. "We have a new routine after I pick her up, we grab dairy queen and then she asks to go see the big skeleton to tell it about her day... Seeing how happy it makes my daughter who was in tears hours earlier [...] makes driving around the block 6 times to move for all the cars worth it."</p><p>The skeleton the note referred to, of course, is the $299 <a href="https://zdcs.link/q3O77?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=%2212%20ft%20Giant-Sized%20Skeleton%20with%20LifeEyes%E2%84%A2%EF%B8%8F%20LCD%20Eyes%2C%22&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=q3O77&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=%2212%20ft%20Giant-Sized%20Skeleton%20with%20LifeEyes%E2%84%A2%EF%B8%8F%20LCD%20Eyes%2C%22&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=q3O77&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)">"12 ft Giant-Sized Skeleton with LifeEyes™️ LCD Eyes,"</a> a bestselling and highly sought-after decoration from Home Depot's seasonal department. </p><p>The prop holds a special place in Zahm's own heart. She goes all-out for Halloween and got her first of two skeletons in September after pining over it for years — a conquest that involved waking up early before work and waiting outside her local Home Depot the day it set out Halloween decorations for the season, she told Mashable in an email. (She now refers to it as "John Skellerman.") But the letter came as a surprise. </p><p>"We got misty-eyed," Zahm said. "We never thought someone would love him as much as we do."</p><p>Zahm's experience encapsulates a collective and persistent infatuation with the Home Depot skeleton, which originally <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/giant-home-depot-skeleton-halloween/2020/10/27/5c6d60e6-1551-11eb-ba42-ec6a580836ed_story.html" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>debuted</u></a> to rabid fanfare in the fall of 2020. It was the gaunt face <a href="https://twitter.com/aussishumble/status/1312231626273943553" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>that</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Reductress/status/1321474380753522688" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>launched</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyhughes/status/1311515595054223360" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>a</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/pixieeelocks/status/1314221402678079488" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>thousand</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sherrysworld/status/1312450894898720768" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>memes</u></a> and a driving force behind the retailer's "<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/home-depot-hd-q3-2020-earnings.html" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>most successful Halloween</u></a>" to date that year, Home Depot's Chief Operating Officer Ted Decker said in an interview with <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/home-depot-hd-q3-2020-earnings.html" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>CNBC</u></a>, despite a <a href="https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/halloween-participation-returns-pre-pandemic-levels-record-spending" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>significant dip</u></a> in holiday spending and participation at the time.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <a class="text-gray-600" href="https://twitter.com/Reductress/status/1321474380753522688" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="(opens in a new window)"> Tweet may have been deleted </a> </blockquote> <p>The skeleton might have easily been a pandemic fluke — nothing more than a silly distraction or a temporary salve to societal upheaval. As anyone who bought a <a href="https://mashable.com/roundup/best-peloton-alternatives" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>Peloton</u></a> at the peak of its popularity can tell you, people's minds were operating on a different plane in 2020. </p><p>Yet even years later, as Zahm could attest, securing a Home Depot skeleton when it gets a rare "Limit 1 per order" drop in 2022 requires luck, timing, and maybe knowing a guy who knows a guy. This year's <a href="https://twitter.com/HomeDepot/status/1537443728477937665" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>June</u></a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/HomeDepot/status/1545452667018919937" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>July</u></a> online restocks both saw the skeleton sell out rapidly, with the former contributing to the <a href="https://ir.homedepot.com/news-releases/2022/08-16-2022-110048363" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>highest quarterly earnings</u></a> in Home Depot history. And aside from a few <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/Wario64/status/1575561158479618048" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>random</u></a> <a href="https://mashable.com/article/oct-18-home-depot-skeleton-restock" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>reappearances</u></a>, it's been MIA ever since — scroll through the comments section on its <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Accents-Holiday-12-ft-Giant-Sized-Skeleton-with-LifeEyes-TM-LCD-Eyes-21SV22082/319895536" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>product page</u></a> for a taste of many wannabe buyers' woes.</p><p><a href="https://www.inputmag.com/culture/home-depot-12-foot-skeleton-scams-scalpers" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Scammers and resellers</u></a> have gotten in on the action, too, targeting the skeleton as if it were a next-generation gaming console or a limited-edition sneaker. Listings on resale platforms like Facebook Marketplace and eBay ask hundreds of dollars over retail price.</p><q> I set like 10 alarms because I was like, 'What if he sells out?' </q> <p>Consumer response to the skeleton has been so immense that Home Depot decided to add more giant Halloween decorations to its lineup, according to Senior Merchant of Decorative Holiday Lance Allen, who affectionately calls the prop "Skelly." (For the record, Allen said the skeleton uses whatever pronouns buyers deem fit. <a href="https://twitter.com/squidvici0us/status/1581016311408504832" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>A gender-fluid icon</u></a>.) First was the 2021 release of a 12-foot <a href="https://zdcs.link/gBXxq?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Inferno%20Pumpkin%20Skeleton&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=gBXxq&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Inferno%20Pumpkin%20Skeleton&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=gBXxq&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Inferno Pumpkin Skeleton</u></a>, a "spicy," corpsey cousin for the classic model priced at $379. This year's additions included a 15-foot <a href="https://zdcs.link/bYx7w?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Towering%20Phantom&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=bYx7w&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Towering%20Phantom&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=bYx7w&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Towering Phantom</u></a>, a 12-foot <a href="https://zdcs.link/pKXnw?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Hovering%20Witch&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=pKXnw&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Hovering%20Witch&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=pKXnw&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Hovering Witch</u></a>, and a 9.5-foot <a href="https://zdcs.link/wAXjK?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Immortal%20Werewolf&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=wAXjK&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Immortal%20Werewolf&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=wAXjK&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Immortal Werewolf</u></a>, which went for $299 to $399 apiece.</p><p>Like any good <a href="https://mashable.com/article/best-viral-products-2022" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>viral sensation</u></a>, the original Home Depot skeleton also spawned copycats at other stores. <a href="https://mashable.com/article/lowes-mummy-home-depot-skeleton" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>Lowe's</u></a>, <a href="https://zdcs.link/Ld53X?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Walmart&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=Ld53X&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Walmart&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=Ld53X&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Walmart</u></a>, <a href="https://zdcs.link/O4RGn?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Best%20Buy&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=O4RGn&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Best%20Buy&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=O4RGn&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Best Buy</u></a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wildassbih/video/7135496386732412206?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Costco</u></a>, and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sidner_renovations/video/7152884034354367786?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>JOANN Fabrics</u></a> have all sought to ride the Big Skeleton wave in 2022. A suspiciously decent knockoff on <a href="https://zdcs.link/3jRGE?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=Amazon&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=3jRGE&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=Amazon&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=3jRGE&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Amazon</u></a> was sold out at the time of publication, having been listed between $325.95 to $1,999.99. (To quote one customer's five-star review: "He is big!!!!")</p><p>In a way, the Home Depot skeleton was destined to be a hit. Its 60 pounds of beige high-density polyethylene stand at an imposing 12 feet — <a href="https://reductress.com/post/catfish-this-12-foot-home-depot-skeleton-is-actually-11-feet-10-inches/" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)">technically 11.7</a>, if you go by the specifications on its online listing. Its two blue-green animated LifeEyes call to mind a certain <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/miley-cyrus-blue-eyes" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Miley Cyrus meme</u></a> while slow-blinking into space, as if it were trying to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/humans-bond-with-cats-by-blinking-slowly-2020-10" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>bond</u></a> with onlookers. It's weatherproof. It's semi-posable. It takes two human adults approximately one hour to assemble. <a href="https://twitter.com/hannahgladwell_/status/1318576352602124289" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>It could hypothetically go through airport security.</u></a> It's <em>massive.</em> Its <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/12-foot-tall-home-depot-skeleton" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>potency as a meme</u></a> is undeniable.</p><div class="mx-auto mt-8 w-full max-w-4xl"> <div id="video-container-ro9S4uAG9rc"></div> </div> <script> window.videoEmbeds = window.videoEmbeds || []; window.videoEmbeds.push({ elemId: 'video-container-ro9S4uAG9rc', data: {"slug":"ro9S4uAG9rc","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ro9S4uAG9rc","start_time":""}, videoPlayerType: 'in-content' }); </script> <p>"I think 'too absurd to fail' is a great way to put it," said Anthony DiMieri, a New York City-based writer, director, and producer. Self-described as "way too online," he turned <a href="https://twitter.com/yousoromi/status/1311841663099179009" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>horny</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/bettinamak/status/1311410060623577091" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>tweets</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kst4x/status/1315353070839230472" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>about</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/layajospe/status/1312062953185775616" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>the</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/pienar/status/1311070406346858497" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Home</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SketchesbyBoze/status/1314914819196289024" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Depot</u></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/corietjohnson/status/1313915566831235072" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>skeleton</u></a> into "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro9S4uAG9rc" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)">My New Boyfriend</a>," a 2021 short film satirizing the modern dating scene that stars our tall king as a love interest. (It would have come out sooner, but all the Home Depot skeletons DiMieri could find on eBay in 2020 were marked up four times retail price.) The mere phrase "12-foot skeleton from Home Depot" is comedy gold in its specificity and strangeness, he explained.</p><p>Scarcity as a self-fulfilling prophecy has also contributed to the skeleton's runaway success, compounded by the fact that its price hasn't increased in its three years on the market — even after Home Depot started including a plug-in power adapter in 2021. Concerns that the skeleton would get more expensive this year because of record-high inflation motivated Lindsey Wilcox, of Warner Robins, Georgia, to finally coordinate a purchase with her boyfriend and best friend; they wound up financing it with a Klarna <a href="https://mashable.com/article/what-is-buy-now-pay-later-bnpl" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>payment plan</u></a>. </p><p>"I was really nervous about it," Wilcox told Mashable. "I set like 10 alarms because I was like, 'What if he sells out?'" The upper half of her skeleton has a permanent home as part of the TV stand, now the focal point of her apartment.</p><blockquote class="mx-auto instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CffrCv3u7Bm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom:1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"> <div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CffrCv3u7Bm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank" title="(opens in a new window)"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"> <svg width="50px" height="50px" viewbox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"> <g> <path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path> </g> </g> </g> </svg> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div class="text-sm" style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram </div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div> </blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script> <p>But something about the skeleton's staying power continues to confound. The number of <a href="https://mashable.com/article/best-viral-products-2022" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>viral products</u></a> that have faded into obscurity as soon as the next big thing trends is incalculable — something new should have usurped its throne by now. (The jacked werewolf <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/10/27/werewolf-home-depot-yard-decoration/" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>tried its best</u></a>; Home Depot had it on clearance at the time of publication.) Yet the skeleton has returned with gusto in the summers and falls since its inception, like a marigold bloom, indoctrinating new generations of skele-sciples. It's almost as if this supersized symbol of death has taken on a life of its own.</p><h2>Fear factor</h2><p>Most of my reporting on this story was driven by a journalistic need for answers to the whys and hows of this viral trend, but I'd be remiss if I didn't disclose a deeply personal quest to confront a lifelong phobia.</p><p>Growing up, I remember ordering my three younger sisters to say "SK" in place of "skeleton" because the word alone scared me. <em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em>, <em>The Nightmare Before Christmas</em>, <em>Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl</em>, and <em>FernGully: The Last Rainforest</em> were all banned from family movie nights because of skeleton cameos. I can't touch anything that has a skeleton on it, whether it's a T-shirt or the cover of an anatomy book. I have spent the past three decades trying to ignore the fact that there is one under my own skin right now — you don't need to remind me. (Please do not remind me.) </p><p>In mid-September 2022, after I'd had several lovely conversations with 12-foot skeleton owners from around the country, a <a href="https://twitter.com/chi_numtot/status/1571945922216574982" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>tweet</u></a> alerted me to the fact that my local Home Depot in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood had one on display. I felt a moral obligation to see this thing after everything I'd heard and read. (My colleagues at Mashable have covered <a href="https://mashable.com/article/home-depot-skeleton-returns" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>restocks</u></a>, <a href="https://mashable.com/deals/12-foot-skeleton-home-depot" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>dupes</u></a>, and the <a href="https://mashable.com/article/12-foot-home-depot-skeleton-halloween-2021" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>Inferno Pumpkin launch</u></a>.) At the very least, I could use the trip as an excuse to grab a <a href="https://thetakeout.com/home-depot-hot-dogs-in-chicago-locations-1847101302" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>hot dog</u></a> after work.</p><p>After I stepped off the parking garage's industrial elevator and rounded a pallet of blue windshield washer fluid, there it was — in the center of the floor, smack dab between the escalators leading to and from the appliance and paint departments, with a homemade sign attached to its wrist that said, "PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH SKELETON."</p><p>I wish I could call our encounter a personal reckoning, a watershed moment of clarity, or a healing round of exposure therapy. Faint feelings of familiarity and "wow, so this is the guy!" were percolating somewhere. But mostly I was just <em>freaked out</em>. I did not feel well in its presence, much less a desire to make physical contact. It was simply too big, too spooky, too skeleton-y.</p><p>Getting close enough for a decent photo I could send to the family group chat was physically distressing — "is that the 12 foot sk," one sister texted back — but it did draw my eye to the small price tag next to the sign. In the interest of due diligence, I approached a nearby apron-clad associate to ask whether it was in stock.</p><p>"No," he answered sheepishly. </p><p>How long had it been sold out? </p><p>"About three weeks now."</p><div class="eloquent-imagery-image"> <div class="flex justify-center"> <img class="border border-gray-100" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-1.fill.size_563x750.v1666988281.jpg" alt="a woman standing next to a 12-foot skeleton in the middle of a home depot" width="563" height="750" loading="lazy" srcset="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-1.fill.size_800x1067.v1666988281.jpg 800w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-1.fill.size_1400x1867.v1666988281.jpg 1400w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-1.fill.size_2000x2667.v1666988281.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px"> </div> <div class="mt-2 subtitle-2 font-sans max-w-3xl text-center mx-auto"> <span class="normal-case text-gray-1000">Two pretty b̶e̶s̶t̶ f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ enemies. </span> <span class="text-gray-600 credit">Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable</span> </div> </div> <h2>A star is born</h2><p>Every legend needs an origin story, and one side of the skeleton's goes largely untold. Despite being widely known as the <em>Home Depot</em> skeleton, it was actually developed in tandem with a tiny seasonal product design and consultancy business called Seasonal Visions International, which operates out of Berkeley and San Diego, Calif. A sister company called <a href="https://www.svigloballtd.com/" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>SVI Global Ltd.</u></a> manufactures its products in China and sells them to retailers around the world. </p><p>Not that anyone would glean that from a Google search. SVI doesn't maintain any socials aside from a dormant <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054398895071" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Facebook page</u></a>, and the closest it has to a website is a <a href="https://seasonalvisionslimited.fandom.com/wiki/Seasonal_Visions_International" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>wiki</u></a> within the Spirit Halloween Fandom community. The only traces of it on the Home Depot website are found within the Questions & Answers section of its products' listings, where "SVI Product Expert" responds to customer concerns.</p><p>This secrecy is intentional, according to a person deeply familiar with SVI who spoke to Mashable under the condition of anonymity: The company doesn't want to steal the spotlight from its retail partners. Other SVI-made decorations include Home Depot's new phantom, floating witch, and werewolf, as well as Best Buy's 8-foot Towering Skeleton with "Digieyes" (the non-trademarked version of LifeEyes). For its part, Home Depot told Mashable that SVI "has been a fantastic partner — they're true innovators in holiday products and décor." </p><p>As the store's Senior Merchant of Decorative Holiday, Allen is often touted as the skeleton's creator, having been <a href="https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/12-foot-skeletons-return-associate-shares-halloween-inspiration" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>inspired</u></a> by a giant torso that appeared at trade shows and haunted houses in 2019. The prop was the result of trying to "bring customers innovation and quality that has never been available in a retail setting" while "[pushing] the limits with our engineer and manufacturing capabilities," Allen told Mashable in a statement.</p><div class="eloquent-imagery-image"> <div class="flex justify-center"> <img class="border border-gray-100" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-2.fill.size_2000x1117.v1666988705.jpg" alt="a line of home depot skeletons in a factory" width="2000" height="1117" loading="lazy" srcset="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-2.fill.size_800x447.v1666988705.jpg 800w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-2.fill.size_1400x782.v1666988705.jpg 1400w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-2.fill.size_2000x1117.v1666988705.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px"> </div> <div class="mt-2 subtitle-2 font-sans "> <span class="normal-case text-gray-1000">Home Depot skeletons await their new homes in an unspecified factory.</span> <span class="text-gray-600 credit">Credit: Courtesy of The Home Depot</span> </div> </div> <p>Jazzing up an otherwise static decoration with moving, dilating LCD eyes was one way to accomplish that. But why 12 feet, specifically? </p><p>"The height of a [10-foot] basketball hoop seemed impressive, but we knew our team could do better," said Allen. "We decided on 12 feet because the image of two grown men standing on top of each other's heads seemed like it would be a showstopper!"</p><p>As cool as the skeleton seemed, the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020 had SVI worried about a Halloween season for the first time in its 19-year history, our source said. Would anyone be in the mood to celebrate? You don't have to be an economist to recognize the fact that extravagant decorations of the morbid and macabre were a hard sell at the time, especially in an economy upended by supply chain crises and a sharp decline in consumer spending. No one was hoarding an emergency fund for a $300 giant skeleton.</p><p>But people were, in fact, in the mood. SVI had never experienced such an enormous public response to one of its products before, which our source partially credited to word of mouth and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhuwX46gc6I" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>mention</u> in the popular true crime podcast <em>My Favorite Murder</em></a>. Some people within the company kept scrapbooks.</p><p>Home Depot itself had a hunch the skeleton would be popular with its customers after it took off online that summer, said Allen, but no one there fully understood the magnitude of its stardom until it went on display in stores in August, when it "exploded overnight." Allen didn't explicitly confirm whether the skeleton was originally intended to be a one-time deal for 2020, but did note that Home Depot "wanted to ensure we continued to bring that excitement to our customers" after many missed out on its introduction. (The SVI source said its scarcity in 2020 and 2021 was the direct result of supply chain snags, which simmered down in time for the first 2022 restock.)</p><p>The skeleton opened many doors for SVI, which swiftly became a name among the Halloween decorating community. But none of its other products have had a bony grip on consumers quite like the original 12-footer. </p><div class="giphy-embed"> <video class="w-full" autoplay loop muted playsinline> <source src="https://media.giphy.com/media/6RXOPN39o51xAAy0th/giphy.mp4" type="video/mp4"> <img src="https://media4.giphy.com/media/6RXOPN39o51xAAy0th/giphy.gif" title="Your browser does not support the mp4 video codec." alt="Your browser does not support the mp4 video codec."> </source></video> <small>Via <a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/6RXOPN39o51xAAy0th/giphy.gif" target="_blank" title="(opens in a new window)">Giphy</a></small> </div> <h2>Skelly die-hards</h2><p>If there's an official fan club for the Home Depot skeleton, it lives on Facebook. Groups dedicated to the decoration have ballooned and multiplied over the past two years, in many cases amassing tens of thousands of members each. Conservative estimates for across-the-board totals would be well over the 100,000 mark.</p><p>These Facebook groups have become epicenters for all factions of the fandom, from hardcore Halloween people who decorate year-round to casuals who are just trying to have the spookiest yard on their block. They're gathering spaces where someone can revel in the triumph of finally buying a skeleton after a months- or yearslong hunt. They're virtual highlight reels for showing off displays, runways for outfit inspiration, and creative outlets for sharing modifications. (Metallic spray paints, skull-to-phalange glitter, and rustic wood stains were <em>huge</em> for SS22.) They're sounding boards for punny name ideas. They're fountains of wisdom on how to secure it properly, prevent it from getting stolen, or persuade a spouse to buy another. They're sources of empathy when hardships and natural disasters force a premature disassembly. They're war rooms for swapping tips on how to win over neighbors and homeowners associations. </p><p>The Home Depot skeleton has found itself in an infinite number of locations, outfits, and poses as a result of these Facebook groups, morphing into some sort of cross between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flat_Stanley_Project" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Flat Stanley</u></a> and a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/where-people-dress-porch-geese-seasonal-outfits/577153/" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Midwestern porch goose</u></a>. One does not simply own this thing; it joins your family. It gives you a story to tell at parties. To know the Home Depot skeleton is to love it — or at least feel a compulsion to talk about it.</p><p>"We are aware of the many fun groups and communities online and are so excited that The Home Depot fans have come together to celebrate our original giant, Skelly," said Allen. "We hope their enthusiasm will continue to extend to Skelly's friends and fellow giants."</p><p>Jennifer Penelope Corcoran, of Nashville, Tenn., is the mastermind behind <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/263087968016742/permalink/712809953044539" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club</u></a>, a hub for "owners, soon-to-be owners, and admirers of the 12-foot skeleton to share pics, tips, and ideas." (Yes, they've made T-shirts.) She created the group on Sept. 5, 2020, having just bought a skeleton during a restock and seen people post about it in other holiday decorating forums. But she wasn't sure whether it would gain any traction.</p><p>Cut to the group's current membership count of over 50,000 people, the largest in the genre, which grows daily.</p><p>"It's completely happened by accident," said Corcoran, whose display now includes two Home Depot skeletons nicknamed Ray and Frankie Blue Eyes, an Inferno Pumpkin variant, the 12-foot witch, the 15-foot phantom, the 9.5-foot werewolf, a giant snake, various skeletal animals, some <em>Haunted Mansion</em>-inspired cutouts, and a 20-foot inflatable cat from Amazon she calls Princess Meow Meow. (As far as a theme goes, "it's really more lack of willpower than anything else," Corcoran joked.)</p><div class="eloquent-imagery-image"> <div class="flex justify-center"> <img class="border border-gray-100" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-15.fill.size_2000x1708.v1666991527.jpg" alt='two home depot skeletons dressed in "dumb and dumber" tuxedos in a dark yard' width="2000" height="1708" loading="lazy" srcset="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-15.fill.size_800x683.v1666991527.jpg 800w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-15.fill.size_1400x1195.v1666991527.jpg 1400w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-15.fill.size_2000x1708.v1666991527.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px"> </div> <div class="mt-2 subtitle-2 font-sans "> <span class="normal-case text-gray-1000">Jennifer Corcoran had a neighbor make custom “Dumb and Dumber” tuxedos for her two Home Depot skeletons in 2021. </span> <span class="text-gray-600 credit">Credit: Courtesy of Jennifer Corcoran</span> </div> </div> <p>Corcoran told Mashable she found Home Depot's Allen on Facebook to invite him to the group shortly after its inception, only to discover he was already a member. A 2021 media preview was the start of her team's close working relationship with the retailer, which keeps close tabs on the community and flags upcoming restocks — intel it relays to members as "Code Orange" alerts as soon as drops go live.</p><p>"We'll email them about stuff all the time and they get back to us right away," said Corcoran of Home Depot, which invited her and Randy Motes, a co-admin from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, back for its in-person Halloween and holiday showcase in 2022. "They enjoy it, they enjoy seeing everybody's displays and the things people are doing with it…They're definitely fun to work with."</p><p>SVI is also embedded within 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club, though it tries to maintain a low profile. Corcoran described their relationship as a symbiotic one: Her team can put group members in touch with SVI for troubleshooting and replacement parts; in turn, SVI gets to see how customers are interacting with their products. Sometimes they'll send YouTube videos with setup tips and tricks, she added. "They want customers to be happy, too."</p><p>Serving as middlemen between these companies and consumers is just one facet of running 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club for Corcoran and her dedicated squad of 19 other admins and moderators; the rest involves a thoughtful balance of customer service, informal PR, and community-building. Post approval stays on to kill leaks, deter spam, and make sure members resell extras at cost. Threads are watched closely to ensure conversations stay civil and on-topic. Co-admin Motes tries to personally refresh the group's cover photo on a daily basis to showcase as many group members' skeletons as possible — though "I know I miss hundreds," he told Mashable. Each member of the team spends an average of 10 to 40 hours a week tending to the group, said Corcoran.</p><div class="related-stories" data-ga-impression data-ga-module="related_stories" data-ga-element="related_stories_link" data-ga-item="title"> <div class="flex flex-row items-center"> <hr> <div class="px-4 mx-auto mt-0 w-full max-w-3xl font-sans text-2xl font-bold tracking-normal leading-normal text-center whitespace-nowrap shrink">Related Stories</div> <hr> </div> <ul> <li><a href="/article/skeleton-breaking-through-house-halloween" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-action="related_stories" data-ga-position="1">Impressive Halloween display makes the viral 12-foot-tall skeleton look small</a></li> <li><a href="/article/amazon-last-minute-halloween-costumes-2022" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-action="related_stories" data-ga-position="2">15 unique Halloween costumes you can get at the last minute on Amazon</a></li> <li><a href="/article/google-search-trends-halloween-michael-myers-jello" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-action="related_stories" data-ga-position="3">Michael Myers tops Google Halloween search trends in a surprising way</a></li> </ul> </div> <p>All this over a seasonal prop from a home improvement store? It's easy to see the appeal of Facebook groups dedicated to shared, hyper-specific interests at a time when online connections were lifelines. But most members of 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club would probably tell you it's evolved into something more. </p><p>The group parlayed its sense of community into a nationwide fundraising campaign during the 2021 Halloween season, raising over $150,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Members rallied behind a family in Austin, Texas, whose Home Depot skeleton was <a href="https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/14-foot-halloween-skeleton-stolen-from-austin-neighborhood/" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>stolen in broad daylight</u></a>, offering to chip in for a replacement and even donate their own skeletons before Home Depot stepped in with a free spare. A crew of local members was en route to set it up when I last spoke with Corcoran.</p><div class="raw-embed"> <iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allow="autoplay; fullscreen" src="https://w3.mp.lura.live/player/prod/v3/anvload.html?key=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" width="640" height="360"></iframe> </div> <p>For her and countless others, the skeleton has also translated to meaningful real-life connections. Corcoran recalled a day she heard a group member in search of Home Depot's new <a href="https://zdcs.link/1Kwo3?pageview_type=Standard&amp%3Btemplate=article&amp%3Bmodule=content_body&amp%3Belement=offer&amp%3Bitem=text-link&amp%3Belement_label=8-foot%20pumpkin%20stack&amp%3Bobject_type=article&amp%3Bobject_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&amp%3Bshort_url=1Kwo3&amp%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton&template=article&module=content_body&element=offer&item=text-link&element_label=8-foot%20pumpkin%20stack&object_type=article&object_uuid=03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx&short_url=1Kwo3&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2F12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" rel="sponsored" rel="sponsored" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>8-foot pumpkin stack</u></a> was 40 minutes away from her local store, so she booked it over and held it on her car for him until he arrived.</p><section x-data="window.newsletter()" x-init="init()" class="relative p-8 my-12 mx-auto w-full max-w-3xl border md:p-12 md:my-16 border-secondary-300" data-ga-impression data-ga-category="newsletters" data-ga-module="incontent_nl_signup" data-ga-label="deals"> <div class="absolute px-2 font-sans text-lg font-bold leading-8 bg-white top-[-15px] left-[1.5rem] text-secondary-300 md:left-[2.5rem]"> Mashable Deals </div> <div x-show="!isSuccess" class="flex flex-col mx-auto font-sans"> <div class="font-bold leading-tight text-left md:leading-8 header-300">Want more early Black Friday deals right in your inbox?</div> <div class="mt-2 leading-tight text-left bg-white md:mt-0 md:leading-8 header-600">Sign up for the Mashable Deals newsletter.</div> <form x-ref="subscribeForm" class="flex flex-col mt-4 sm:flex-row sm:gap-x-4 text-primary-400 border-primary-400 focus-within:text-secondary-300" data-initial-lists="deals" x-on:submit.prevent="submit()"> <input type="email" x-model="email" class="py-4 px-4 w-full text-base font-normal leading-5 placeholder-gray-600 text-gray-600 bg-white border border-gray-200 sm:w-2/3 md:w-3/4" placeholder="Enter Email" aria-label="Email"> <input x-bind:value="selectedListsValue()" type="hidden" name="lists" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="source" value="incontent"> <input type="hidden" name="courierList" value="Mashable On-Site - Incontent"> <button :disabled="isLoading" type="submit" class="py-4 px-1 mt-4 w-full text-lg font-bold leading-5 text-center text-white sm:mt-0 sm:w-1/3 md:w-1/4 bg-secondary-300 btn-secondary subtitle-1"> <span x-cloak x-show="isLoading">Loading...</span> <span x-show="!isLoading">Sign Me Up</span> </button> </form> <div x-cloak x-show="isError" class="flex flex-row px-4 mt-4 text-red"> <svg class="inline-block w-4 h-4 leading-4 fill-current"><use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-exclamation-square"></use></svg> <div x-text="error" class="ml-1 font-bold leading-4 text-left subtitle-2"></div> </div> <div class="mt-4 font-sans text-xs leading-normal text-left subtitle-1"> By signing up you agree to our <a class="underline" href="https://www.ziffdavis.com/terms-of-use" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="(opens in a new window)">Terms of Use</a> and <a class="underline" href="https://www.ziffdavis.com/ztg-privacy-policy" target="_blank" title="(opens in a new window)">Privacy Policy</a>. </div> </div> <div x-cloak x-show="isSuccess" class="py-1 mx-auto max-w-xl text-center"> <svg class="inline-block w-24 h-20 leading-4 fill-current"><use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-mailbox-regular"></use></svg> <div class="header-300">Thanks for signing up!</div> </div> </section> <p>"It ended up being like eight of us that all ended up showing up down there," she said. "You get to meet people in your community you didn't even know about." Maybe the real Home Depot skeleton is the friends we make along the way.</p><p>Perhaps close-knit, well-connected communities like these are why Maddi had so much trouble reselling a skeleton. An East Coast resident who spends a lot of time on social media for work, she purchased one at her local Home Depot this summer after seeing a promo for the retailer's July restock on Twitter, hoping its virality would double her money in a fast sale. (Mashable is not including her last name to protect her identity.) </p><p>Alas, no dice: Maddi's listings on Mercari, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace have been met with haggling and hostility from strangers, so the skeleton has been sitting unopened in her parents' shed ever since.</p><p>"People are surprisingly rude," she said. "They're offering me less than I originally paid for it. Or they just say, 'Ha ha ha, you're never gonna sell this thing.' Or like, 'I can go to Home Depot, buy one for $300, and bring it home. I don't need yours.' And I'm like, well, it's sold out at Home Depot, so I don't know what you expect to do with that."</p><div class="giphy-embed"> <video class="w-full" autoplay loop muted playsinline> <source src="https://media.giphy.com/media/PVxm1vvcOGuMlSjQKO/giphy.mp4" type="video/mp4"> <img src="https://media4.giphy.com/media/PVxm1vvcOGuMlSjQKO/giphy.gif" title="Your browser does not support the mp4 video codec." alt="Your browser does not support the mp4 video codec."> </source></video> <small>Via <a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/PVxm1vvcOGuMlSjQKO/giphy.gif" target="_blank" title="(opens in a new window)">Giphy</a></small> </div> <h2>Love thy neighbor, hate their skeleton</h2><p>The journey of Home Depot skeleton ownership is not necessarily one for the faint of heart, despite its broad appeal. Enough complaints from HOAs or neighbors can be grounds for disassembly, which is every Home Depot skeleton owners' worst nightmare after vandalism or theft. (I personally would not love seeing a 12-foot skeleton outside my window every day, for what it's worth.) But sometimes a little backlash can work in an owner's favor. </p><q> If I get that reaction and I get that smile, then I did my day. </q> <p>Bridgett Nicolace, of Columbia, South Carolina, told Mashable she often gets people knocking on her door asking to take pictures with her skeleton Billy Bob Bones. "Triple B" stays on her front lawn year-round and has a rotating closet of costumes for different seasons and holidays; Nicolace paid "five or six hundred dollars" to have him shipped from Pennsylvania last fall and makes all of his outfits herself. (She can name his T-shirt size on <a href="https://mashable.com/category/amazon" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>Amazon</u></a> — 3XL — off the top of her head.) </p><p>Nicolace was surprised when she opened her mailbox one day in March to find an anonymous note demanding that her "trashy" skeleton be taken down, threatening court action "or whatever needs to be done to have it removed" — something she found funny as a former trial attorney. She decided to post a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@bnicolace/video/7077276062559784234?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7077276062559784234" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>video</u></a> about it on TikTok, where it's been viewed over 1.9 million times. One of several follow-up videos featured Triple B <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@bnicolace/video/7081845532989345070?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>posing with a meta sign</u></a> that read, "My mom is a lawyer."</p><p>"When I did that video on TikTok and it blew up unexpectedly, a lot of people offered to buy additional items for Triple B," Nicolace said. She decided against making a <a href="https://mashable.com/article/amazon-storefront-tiktok" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body"><u>public Amazon Wish List</u></a>, citing a discomfort with asking strangers for "handouts," but would love to someday get another Home Depot skeleton — maybe when Triple B's wardrobe gets too full.</p><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="7077276062559784234" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section></section> </blockquote> <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script> <p>Richard Miley, of Watkinsville, Georgia, who purchased his first Home Depot skeleton in April, bedecked "Bone Marley" in a festive oversized Hawaiian shirt and lights for a house party this past summer. As night fell that evening, he heard a banging coming from the house next door: His neighbor had nailed a 10- to 11-foot cross to a shed facing the skeleton. That kicked off "a little war," he said.</p><p>Miley has since amassed an army of three classic Home Depot skeletons, one Inferno Pumpkin skeleton, a <a href="https://www.lowes.com/pd/Haunted-Living-Hl-12-Ft-Animated-Mummy/5013065069" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>12-foot mummy</u></a> from Lowe's, a <a href="https://www.spirithalloween.com/product/7-6-ft-baphomet-animatronic-decorations/222779.uts" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>7.6-foot Baphomet animatronic</u></a> from Spirit Halloween, two giant skulls, and seven five-foot skeletons, which he expands regularly and plans on displaying year-round. He recently installed a 30-foot flagpole, which a 12-foot skeleton named Pamela Skel-Lee "dances" around as her standard-sized counterparts gawk from folding chairs, jaws agape. He's hoping to buy at least three or four more classic 12-foot skeletons, which will get placed around his backyard pool and wrapped with string lights. </p><p>"I got at least two grand into it right now. I'm not done yet," said Miley, citing lack of HOA oversight and a best friend who's an attorney. "I think it's well worth it."</p><p>For Miley, this is more than just a petty opportunity to stick it to a hater. (To his credit, their back-and-forth has helped his family's 2022 <a href="https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/DIY/DIY?px=7674944&pg=personal&fr_id=134327&fbclid=IwAR3TDb-ILV9yE83Ksy2yxe-7uHVpMzAHDMVQpcOcq3svtbZ3tlYkNCPnjQ8" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>St. Jude fundraiser</u></a> eclipse its $4,500 goal.) It's also more than just great advertising for Miley's restaurant; everyone in town knows him as the guy with the cool yard that pissed off his neighbors. It's both a personal creative release and a perpetual source of delight for his friends and family — specifically his wife Ashley, a nurse practitioner who works in a COVID intensive care unit. </p><p>"If I get that reaction and I get that smile, then I did my day," Miley said.</p><div class="giphy-embed"> <video class="w-full" autoplay loop muted playsinline> <source src="https://media.giphy.com/media/P9l2lqiGYLVEe361gL/giphy.mp4" type="video/mp4"> <img src="https://media4.giphy.com/media/P9l2lqiGYLVEe361gL/giphy.gif" title="Your browser does not support the mp4 video codec." alt="Your browser does not support the mp4 video codec."> </source></video> <small>Via <a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/P9l2lqiGYLVEe361gL/giphy.gif" target="_blank" title="(opens in a new window)">Giphy</a></small> </div> <h2>Until death do us part?</h2><p>Three years of selling out and amassing a passionate fanbase have posed an important question: Will the Home Depot skeleton bubble ever burst?</p><p>The issue was recently raised within 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club, prompting discourse among members over whether the prop is still cool or too commonplace. Co-admin Motes brushed off concerns, likening the skeleton to a Christmas tree: "It's how you decorate it, how you display it," he told Mashable, adding that he still spots very few skeletons "out in the wild" in his own neighborhood. Seeing people around the country post pictures of it in a Facebook group dedicated to that specific purpose creates a false sense of oversaturation, he explained. "I feel they should just keep coming every year."</p><div class="eloquent-imagery-image"> <div class="flex justify-center"> <img class="border border-gray-100" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-18.fill.size_2000x746.v1666992301.png" alt="randy motes' 2022 halloween display" width="2000" height="746" loading="lazy" srcset="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-18.fill.size_800x299.v1666992301.png 800w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-18.fill.size_1400x522.v1666992301.png 1400w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-18.fill.size_2000x746.v1666992301.png 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px"> </div> <div class="mt-2 subtitle-2 font-sans "> <span class="normal-case text-gray-1000">Randy Motes’ 2022 display features a 12-foot, six-inch plywood skeleton (left), which he made himself in 2020 after the Home Depot version sold out. SVI sent him a set of LifeEyes for it, he said.</span> <span class="text-gray-600 credit">Credit: Mashable Composite / Courtesy of Randy Motes</span> </div> </div> <p>Indeed, all of the Home Depot skeleton owners we spoke with are continuing to find new ways to one-up themselves. Miley said he sources decorating ideas from 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club on a regular basis, spending a couple hundred dollars each time "just to make it happen because I want the picture." Nicolace is thinking about dressing Triple B in a capotain and doublet for Thanksgiving. Wilcox will buy a black Santa hat for her skeleton to wear at Christmas. And for her part, letter recipient Jessi Zahm is helping John Skellerman build a rapport with his 3-year-old secret admirer through gift exchanges and weekly personalized notes. A giant replica of her favorite Dairy Queen treat — a Stars & Stripes Starkiss Bar — is currently affixed to his left hand. </p><p>For Erin Bain, of Indianapolis, Indiana, the Home Depot skeleton's presence will remain long after hers gets disassembled for the season: She got a tattoo of it on her calf this fall. "I might have the first one — it may not be the last," she said. Coincidentally, Bain's artist <a href="https://www.instagram.com/garretthudsontattoos/" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>Garrett Hudson</u></a>, of Fountain Square Tattoo, <em>also</em> happens to own a Home Depot skeleton.</p><div class="eloquent-imagery-image"> <div class="flex justify-center"> <img class="border border-gray-100" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-20.fill.size_685x750.v1666993933.png" alt="a fresh tattoo of a home depot skeleton on a woman's leg" width="685" height="750" loading="lazy" srcset="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-20.fill.size_800x876.v1666993933.png 800w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-20.fill.size_1400x1532.v1666993933.png 1400w, https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/03NEzda5VeFCJoRwMZ4n1Qx/images-20.fill.size_2000x2189.v1666993933.png 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px"> </div> <div class="mt-2 subtitle-2 font-sans max-w-3xl text-center mx-auto"> <span class="normal-case text-gray-1000">Bain road-tripped to Ohio to buy her Home Depot skeleton, which is now immortalized on her calf.</span> <span class="text-gray-600 credit">Credit: Courtesy of Erin Bain / Tattoo by Garrett Hudson of Fountain Square Tattoo</span> </div> </div> <p>Even if the hype (or ink) fades, it's easy to see the Home Depot skeleton living on as a seasonal meme, morphing into a <a href="https://twitter.com/jenni_tabler/status/1566266554240888832" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>harbinger of spooky season</u></a> — like Caitlin <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/style/christian-girl-autumn-caitlin-covington.html" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><u>"Christian Girl Autumn"</u></a> Covington, minus the great hair. Extremely online filmmaker DiMieri said he's seen enough tweets about the skeleton's merits as a love interest in 2022 that he's set on making a sequel to "My New Boyfriend" with a proposal and wedding scenes, pending enough funding. (Your move, Home Depot.) </p><p>It's hard not to root for the skeleton's continued success or existence in the zeitgeist, even as someone who isn't particularly enamored with the osteologic. It's hard to be repulsed by something born out of private desires to create moments of levity. It's hard to fault anyone for squeezing so much communal joy out of a $300 Halloween decoration from a hardware corporation in a post-lockdown world that can be so antagonistic and isolating. There are far worse causes to rally around.</p><p>I still won't go within six feet of the Home Depot skeleton if I can help it, to be crystal clear. But the next time we cross paths, I might not be as terrified, knowing I'm in on what feels like a glorious inside joke.</p> <section class="mx-auto max-w-7xl"> <div class="flex flex-wrap mt-8 w-full font-sans subtitle-2 editor-content"> <p> <span class="mr-1.5 font-sans font-bold">Topics</span> <a class="underline-link hover:no-underline text-secondary-300 " href="https://mashable.com/category/social-media" aria-label="Navigate to the Social Media tag" data-ga-click data-ga-label="$text">Social Media</a> </p> </div> </section> </article> <section class="mx-auto mt-12 max-w-3xl border-t border-gray-200 border-solid"> <div class="py-8 w-full"> <div class="flex flex-col items-center pb-8 border-b border-gray-200 md:flex-row md:space-x-8"> <div class="flex flex-col justify-center items-center space-y-4 text-center md:flex-row md:justify-start md:space-y-0 md:space-x-6 md:text-left"> <img class="w-24 h-24 rounded-full border border-gray-200" src="https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/defaults/fallback-thumbnail.fill.size_100x100.1.png" alt="Mashable Image" width="100" height="100" loading="lazy" > <div class="flex flex-col space-y-2"> <div class="w-full font-bold header-200">Haley Henschel</div> <div class="w-full text-xl font-bold">Senior Shopping Reporter</div> </div> </div> <div class="flex flex-row justify-center pt-4 mt-8 w-full border-t border-gray-200 md:justify-start md:pt-0 md:pl-4 md:mt-0 md:w-auto md:border-t-0 md:border-l md:border-solid space-x4" style="height:75px;align-items:center;"> <a href="https://twitter.com/haleyhenschel" class="px-3 hover:text-primary-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="(opens in a new window)"> <svg class="inline-block w-5 h-5 fill-current md:h-4"><use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-twitter-brands"></use></svg> </a> <a href="www.linkedin.com/in/haley-henschel-27b28a80" class="px-3 hover:text-primary-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="(opens in a new window)"> <svg class="inline-block w-5 h-5 fill-current md:h-4"><use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-linkedin-brands"></use></svg> </a> </div> </div> <div class="mx-0 max-w-3xl font-serif editor-content"> <p>Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from <a href="https://mashable.com/roundup/best-dupes" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body">dupes</a> to <a href="https://mashable.com/article/12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" target="_self" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body">12-foot skeletons</a>.</p><p>Haley received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and honed her sifting and winnowing skills at <em>The Daily Cardinal</em>. She previously covered politics for <em>The Milwaukee Journal</em> Sentinel, investigated exotic pet ownership for <em>Wisconsin Watch</em>, and blogged for some of your favorite reality stars.</p><p>In her free time, Haley enjoys playing video games, drawing, taking walks on Lake Michigan, and spending time with her parrot (Melon) and dog (Pierogi). She really, really wants to get back into horseback riding. You can follow her on X at <a href="https://twitter.com/haleyhenschel" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)">@haleyhenschel</a> or reach her via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1078717c75693e78757e637378757c507d71637871727c753e737f7d" target="_blank" data-ga-click="1" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-item="text-link" data-ga-module="content_body" title="(opens in a new window)"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4a222b262f3364222f243929222f260a272b39222b28262f64292527">[email protected]</span></a>.</p> </div> </div> </section> <div class="mx-auto max-w-3xl" data-spotim-module="conversation" data-spot-id="sp_oHE136vk" data-post-id="106675" data-post-url="/article/12-foot-home-depot-skeleton" data-article-tags="Digital Culture, Life"> </div> <div class="mx-auto max-w-3xl" data-spotim-module="pitc" data-spot-id="sp_oHE136vk" data-article-tags="Digital Culture, Life"></div> </main> <div class="px-4 mx-auto w-full 2xl:px-0 full-width"> <div data-pogo="nativespotlight"></div> </div> <div class="px-4 mx-auto w-full 2xl:px-0 full-width" data-ga-module="content_body"> <section class="mx-auto max-w-3xl"> <section class="mx-auto max-w-8xl" data-ga-module="text-link-recirc" data-ga-element="event-recirculation-link" data-ga-action=text-links"> <div class="flex flex-col justify-center items-start mt-12 mb-6 space-y-2 md:flex-row md:justify-between md:items-end md:space-y-0"> <h2 class="w-full header-200 font-bold text-primary-400 md:w-1/2 md:text-left md:!leading-6">Black Friday 2024</h2> <a class="w-full text-sm font-bold uppercase md:w-1/2 md:text-base md:leading-none md:text-right" href=/category/black-friday data-ga-element="event-recirculation-link" data-ga-item="event-recirculation-link" data-ga-label="All Black Friday 2024 Coverage" data-ga-click aria-label="View coverage for all Black Friday 2024 Deals">All Black Friday 2024 Coverage</a> </div> <div x-cloak x-data="{drawerOpen: true}"> <hr class="w-full border border-gray-100"> <button @click="drawerOpen = !drawerOpen" class="flex py-6 my-3 w-full group" aria-label="Latest Black Friday"> <h3 class="mx-auto mt-0 w-full max-w-3xl font-sans text-xl font-bold text-left whitespace-nowrap md:text-2xl grow group-hover:text-secondary-300" :class="{ 'text-secondary-300': drawerOpen }">Latest Black Friday</h3> <div> <svg x-show="drawerOpen" class="inline-block w-6 h-6 fill-current text-secondary-300"> <use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-chevron-down"></use> </svg> <svg x-show="!drawerOpen" class="inline-block w-6 h-6 fill-current group-hover:text-secondary-300"> <use href="/images/icons/spritemap.svg#sprite-chevron-right"></use> </svg> </div> </button> <div x-show="drawerOpen" class="mb-9"> <ul class="px-8 list-disc"> <li class="font-sans font-semibold text-lg "> <a class="text-black underline hover:text-secondary-300" href="/article/best-early-black-friday-tech-deals" aria-label="Latest Black Friday: I'm a tech editor, and these are the early Black Friday deals threatening my wallet" data-ga-item="title" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-position="1" data-ga-click > I'm a tech editor, and these are the early Black Friday deals threatening my wallet </a> </li> <li class="font-sans font-semibold text-lg mt-4"> <a class="text-black underline hover:text-secondary-300" href="/roundup/best-laptops-under-500-2024" aria-label="Latest Black Friday: The best laptops under $500 are getting even cheaper for Black Friday 2024" data-ga-item="title" data-ga-label="$text" data-ga-position="2" data-ga-click > The best laptops under $500 are getting even cheaper for Black Friday 2024 </a> </li> <li class="font-sans font-semibold text-lg mt-4"> <a class="text-black underline hover:text-secondary-300" href="/article/fitbit-vs-apple-watch" aria-label="Latest Black Friday: Fitbits and Apple Watches are both on sale for Black Friday. 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